Cooling apparatus



Feb. `13, 1940. n, ,L alsmaar; l 2,150,171

' COOLING APPARATUS Filed .July 1. 193e RIR Cual-ER NNU WHSHIR an 4H g3 L* Mnms'up 1 y i 7 1 "`45 www f' f lNvENToR RUDOLPH J. ESINQER, K m A l l A an f77' www `ATToRmiY Patente Feb; 13, 1940 l, y l I A 2,190,171 oooLiNG APPARATUS Application July 1, 1936; Serial No. 88,296

` s claims. (ci.v sz-z) g My invention relates to refrigerating appa` refrigerating apparatus embodying my invenratus, and it has for an object to provide imtion; and, proved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof showing the ejec- More particularly, the invention relates to' tors and the common condenser.

5 refrigerating apparatus of the steam jet type in Referring to the drawingi detail, I show whichcooling of liquid is effected in successive steam jet refrigerating apparatus for supplying stages. Such apparatuscomprises a plurality of cooled liquid, such as water, to any apparatus in evaporator chambers through which the liquid to which it may be required` Such apparatus may be cooled is conveyed in series. An ejector, usube, for example, the all 0001er and Washer Of air ally steam motivated, is provided for each evap- Condithng apparatus. shOWn 0h the drawing 10 l orator chamber for removing vaportherefrom. at 9. The removal of vapor from the evaporator cham- The refrigerating apparatus comprises a' llst ber effects reduction of pressure therein, so that evaporatOr Chamber l0 and` a Second eVapOreOr the liquid passing therethrough is partially vall- In the present emhOdlmerll, these Chambers l5 porized and Cooled, A common condenser may are formed by Separate tanks. Steam motivated 15 beprovided for the several ejectors. Insuch case, electors I2 and I3, ShOWnn Fig. 2, have their if operation of one of the ejectors is terminated, Suction inlets I2 and I3 connected to the chamthe vapor pressure in the associated evaporator bers IU and II, respectively, and effect a vacuous chamber is raised to that of the condenser, due 0r reduced pressure condition in the respective 2o to iiow of vapor through the ejector, thereby sub- Chambers by withdrawing Vapor therefrOm, The 2o jecting any Vliquid within the chamber to the ejectors I2 and I3 are motivated by steam from higher temperature of such higher pressure a supply ehdut I4, the admlsSiOn thereof being vapor, i n controlled by valves I5 and I6, respectively, the It is an object of my invention to prevent operation of which is described later. The ejecheating of liquid in the chamber whose ejector tors exhaust into a common condenser I1, which 25 is not in operation while another ejector is in is provided With a Cendehsa'e Outlet I8, an air lirren STATES vPATENT OFFICE operation. f outlet I9 connected to an air ejector 20, a cooling Another object` of my invention is kto vary the water inlet 2|, and a .cooling water outlet 22. amount of cooling action in accordance with the F01 full load operation, both electors are Opercooling demand. Y ated, and for partial load operation, only the 30 In accordance with my invention, I provide elector I3 is Operated, the ejector I2 being shut conduit and valve means for by-passing the liquid dOWn by ClOsrlE the Valve l5. The Condenser to be cooled around any evaporator chamber `pressure is then admitted into the chamber l0 whose ejector is not in operation.` In this way, thrOlleh the eJ'eClOr |2 it is not subjected to the higher temperature of The Water t0 be COOled is `conveyed, in this 35 the condenser vapor pressure in such evaporator Case, from the air C001er and Washer 9. by a 60ni chamber. Preferably, the evaporator chambers (11111223 t0 a three-Way Valvel- The latter has are arranged at successively lower levels, so niet one Outlet connected t0 spray nozzles 25 pre-v the liquid to `be cooled flows by gravity from one vided '1h the evaporator Chamber l0, and a second 40 chamber to the next and the connecting conduits Outlet Connected t0 a Mapassl Cendut 26- The 40 are formed to provide loop seals between succes- Water Cooled in llflechambef "l is dseharlsed sive chamberstherefrom through anoutlet in thebottom, which I also provide control mechanism for initiating outlet is connected to alooped conduit 21 `formed. operation of the several ejectors successively in 'to mol/fie a manometri? connectln orloop Seal response .tov successive increases in refrigerating compnsmg Verilcal portmns 21a and 2" and a 45 load, which `may be indicated by successive inggrrzngglgxrgngomigl ve-ferg glo's m the temperature of the hqmd bemg vertical conduit portion 2lb and the lower end The above and other objects are effected by of the by-pass condult 2B gre conneted through 5 a T-fitting 28, to a'conduit 29 leading to spray 50 my mventloll, as Wm be gjpparent lm m the OHQW' nozzles 30 provided inthe evaporator chamber I I. ing description and. claims taken 1n connection The Water cooled in the evaporator chamber 1| is with the aeempanymg draWlrlg, forming a part discharged therefrom through an outlet in the of this application, in which:` bottom to a conduit 3l, from which it flows to at .55 Fig. l is a diagrammatic elevational view of pump 32. The latter delivers the same under pressure to a conduit 33, through which it is delivered to the point of use, in this case, the air cooler and washer 9. In the latter, the water absorbs heat from the air passing therethrough. It is discharged therefrom at increased temperature to the conduit 23 to be recirculated.

Control mechanism for regulating the operation of the refrigerating apparatus is provided. It includes solenoids 34 and 35 for opening the valves i5 and I6, respectively, the latter being biased to closed position in any suitable manner, as by springs. A solenoid 36 controls the valve 24, which is biased to the position in which it con- Veys water to the by-pass conduit 26, and which is operated to convey the water to the nozzles 25 of the chamber I0 when the solenoid 3B is energized. The solenoids 34 and 36 are controlled by contacts 31, and the solenoid is controlled by contacts 38. Electric current for energizing the solenoid is supplied by line conductors L1V and L2 through the connections which are shown on the drawing and which are readily understood therefrom.

The contacts 31-and 38 are controlled by a thermostat 39 in response to the temperature of the liquidto be cooled, taken at any desired point 'in the circuit or path thereof. Preferably, and

as shown, the thermostat includes an expansible bellows 4I connected by a tube 42 to a bulb 43 disposed in the conduit 3I in which itis subjected to the temperature of the cooled water. The thermostat 39 is arranged to close the contacts 38 in'response to a predetermined maximum temperature, to close both contacts 31 and 38 in respouse to a slightly higher predetermined maximum temperature, and to open both contacts 31 and 38 in response to a temperature lower than the first-mentioned predetermined maximum temperature. For the purpose of an example, the first and second predetermined maximum temperatures will be taken as 40 and 41 F., respectively.

Make-up water to replace the water which is vaporized and removed by the ejectors is supplied through a conduit 44. The latter is connected to the water circuit at any suitable point, for example, at the T-tting 28. The admission of make-up water is controlled by a valve connected in the conduit 44, which valve is controlled by a float control 46 in response to the level of water in the chamber II. The float control 46 is connected to the valve 45 to actuate the same in any suitable manner, as by means of a hydraulic connection 41.

The operation of the above-described apparatus is as follows:

Assume 4the air cooler or other refrigerating load requires the maximum amount of refrigeration. This is evidenced by a temperature of the cooled water of 41 F. or higher. The thermostat 39 closes the contacts 31 and 38 to effect energlzation of all of the solenoids, thereby rendering both ejectors operative and adjusting the valve 24 to-admit the water to the chamber I0. Upon being subjected to the vacuum or decreased pressure in the evaporator chamber I0, the water is partially vaporized, which action effects cooling of the remaining water, as is well known in the art. Preferably one half of the temperature reduction of the water is eiected in the chamber I0. The water` then ows by gravity through the looped conduit 21, the T-tting 28 and the conduit' 29 to the chamber II, the diierence in level between the chambers providing suicient head to force the water through the nozzles in the chamber II. The remainder of the temperature reduction of the water is effected in the-chamber -II, by partial evaporation of the water as described above, and the water is then discharged therefrom into the conduit 3|. It is then conveyed from the pump through the conduit 33 to the cooler 9,

As the requirement for refrigeration decreases, the temperature of the water decreases; however, the contacts 31- will be kept closed and the apparatus maintained at full load operation until the temperature drops below 41 F., or a. slightly lower temperature, indicating that one-half load operation will supply the needed refrigeration, at least temporarily. The contacts 31 are then opened, deenergizing the solenoids 34 and 36.

Operation of the ejector I2 is terminated and the valve 24 is moved by the spring to the position shown on the drawing, in which the water from the conduit 23 is delivered to the by-pass conduit 26. The latter conveys the water to the nozzles 28 of the chamber II.

As the ejector I2 is shut down, the vapor in the condenser is free to ow through the ejector I2 to equalize the vapor pressure in the condenser and in the evaporator chamber I 0. Due to its higher pressure, this vapor is also of higher temperature and would heat no water in the chamber YIll with which it comes into contact. The looped conduit;l 21 provides a loop seal to prevent the escape `of this higher vapor pressure from the chamber IIJ into the chamber II. The chamber I0 is disposed at a suiciently higher l'evel than the chamber I I so that all of the water from the chamber I0 flows into the conduit 21, so that there is no water therein to be heated by the higher vapor pressure. Due to the relatively small cross section of the conduit portion 21a, the surface of the liquid therein subject to the higher temperature of the vapor in the chamber I Il is very small and the amount of heating is negligible.V VFurthermore, the water subjected to the heating is in a relatively static condition. In this case, then, the water to be cooled by-passes the chamber I0 and is admitted directly into the chamber II in which a single stage of temperature reduction is eiected. It is then delivered to the air cooler 9 or other point of use in the same manner as before.

If the refrigeration requirement is substantially less than full load and greater than half load, there will be intermittent full load and half load operation, the temperature of the water decreasing during the full load operation and increasing during the half load operation.

If the temperature of the water drops below 40 F., or a slightly lower temperature, indicating that no further refrigeration is presently needed, the contacts 38 are also opened, shutting down the ejector I3. rIhe water is then circulated through the chamber II without any cooling except for the action of the air ejector 2U of the condenser, which eiects a small amount of evaporation water. Upon subsequent increase in temperature of the Water, the contacts 38 will reclose, and cooling at half load will be resumed. Thus, a load less than half load is taken care of by intermittent half load operation.

-It will thus be seen that I have provided an arrangement whereby heating of the water in an evaporator chamber containing vapor at condenser pressure is prevented. It will also be seen that I have provided automatic control mechanism whereby the amount of cooling may be varied in accordance with the cooling load.

GTI

lil

of a plurality of evaporator chambers, an ejector associated with each chamber for withdrawing vapor therefrom, and means responsive to a pree determined load condition -for conveying liquid to be cooled through a plurality of said chambers in series and'for effecting operation of the ejectors associated therewith and responsive to a .lighter predetermined load condition for conj veying said water through only one of said chambers and for effecting operation only of the ejector associated with said one chamber and including means for directing the liquid into the vaporcontaining space of each chamber and subjecting the liquid to the reduced pressure in such space.

2. In refrigerating apparatus, the combination of first and second evaporator chambers, an ejector associated with each chamber for withdrawing vapor therefrom, a commn condenser for said ejectors, means for delivering liquid to be cooledto said first chamber, means kfor conveying said liquid from said rst chamber to said second chamber, means for withdrawing said liquidfrom said second chamber, and means for by-passing said liquid from said delivery means around said rst chamber to said conveying means for operation at partial load, said second chamber being disposed below said rst chamber a suicient distance' so that said.

rst chamber is emptied of Water by gravity flow into said conveying means when the ejector associated with said first chamber is not in operation.

3. The method of refrigerating which comprises conveying liquid to be cooled through a plurality of evaporator chambers in series for full load operation, at the same time removing vapor from each of said chambers to eiect cooling of said liquid in said chambers in successive steps. and conveying said liquid through one of said chambers andV lay-passing another thereof for partial load operation, at the same time removing vapor from said one chamber and discontinuing the removal oi' vapor from said other chamber, the liquid being directed into the vaporcontaining space of each chamber through which it is conveyed and subjected to the reduced pressure in such space. l

4. The method oi reirigerating which com prises conveying liquid to be cooled through a plurality of evaporator chambers .in series and exhausting vapor therefrom in response to a prt determined maximum temperature ol' the cooled liquid, and conveying said liquid through a smaller number of such chambers and exhausting vapor therefrom, while'by-passing the remaining chamber or chambers, in response to a lower predetermined maximum tempcrature of the cooled liquid, the liquid being directed into the vaporcontaining space of each chamber through which it is conveyed and subjected to the reduced pressure in such space.

5. In refrigeratng apparatus, the combination of a plurality of`4evaporator chambers, a vapor f motivated ejector or ejectors associated with each chamber for removing vapor therefrom to effect coolingr of liquid by partial evaporation thereof, means for rendering the ejector or ejectors of one chamber operative or inoperative, means .for conveying liquid in series through the vapor-containing spaces of said chambers and subjecting the liquid to the reduced pressures in such spaces, and means operable automatically to by-pass liquid around said one chamber upon the ejector or ejectors associated therewith beingrendered inoperative.

6. In vapor jet refrlgerating apparatus, the combination of a plurality of evaporator chambers, a vapor motivated ejector connected to each chamber for removing vapor therel'rornmeans for controlling the operation of said ejectors individually, means for condensing the vaporous `fluid exhausted from said ejectors, means for conveying the liquid to be cooled through said chambers in series or :for conveying said liquid through one of said evaporator chambers and by-passing a second evaporator chamber, said last-mentioned means directing the liquid into the vapor-containing space of each chamber through which the liquid is conveyed and `thereby subjecting it to the reduced pressure in such space, and means providing a liquid seal between said chambers when conveying liquid through said one evaporator chamber and bypassing a second evaporator chamber.

RUDOLPH J. Eismann.' 

